Picking Up the Pieces
by Miss Bella Padfoot
Summary: It's the year after the battle of Hogwarts and Harry and Hermione have returned to Hogwarts. Ron has died and they are left to pick up the pieces of their broken lives. Can they leave all of their friends that have passed and move on? Harry/Hermione


Hermione hurried off towards the library. Classes didn't actually begin until tomorrow, but her year off had made her lose some of her edge. Some little seventh year might just have out learned her in the last year, however unlikely that was. But still, better safe than sorry. Better to endure Snape's taunts of being an insufferable know-it-all, knowing everything. She opened her Potions book and stared at it for a while, thinking. Most of the teachers were still here: Snape, Potions,; McGonagall, Headmistress for this year,; Flitwick, Charms,; even Remus Lupin had returned to his post as Defense Against the Dark Arts after four and a half years (Had it really been that long ago?) there was even a new professor: Emilie Mishler, the new Transfiguration professor. McGonagall had decided to give up the position in order to give her full attention to being Headmistress. Hermione swung her cloak off and hung it on one of the many empty chairs at her table. The gold and scarlet Head Girl badge caught her eye. The Head Boy was none other than Harry Potter. Everything was going to be different now. The war was over, Voldemort defeated. At least it was a good different. Turning back to her book, Hermione lost herself in preparation for tomorrow. By the time she was shooed from the library, Hermione had refreshed her knowledge on Ancient Runes, Potions, Transfiguration, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Astronomy, History of Magic, Herbology, and Arithmancy. She reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, she faltered. As Heads, she and Harry had separate dorms behind the portrait of the Fat Lady's friend, Violet. Harry was staring into the fire when she entered, a book lying open on his lap. Apparently he too had been brushing up on past years' knowledge. He looked extremely sad as she took a seat in one of the overstuffed arm chairs. Hermione knew he was thinking of Ron. Ron's death had been hard on both of them. He'd been killed in the blast that killed Fred. Neither of them had lived to see Voldemort vanquished, if only they had lived a few more hours... For a few months, Hermione had thrown herself into a deep pit of depression, speaking to no one. Finally, at great length, Harry had somehow managed to pull her out. And she was not about to let Harry do the same thing to himself. Hermione knew that if she saw anyone else wither away like that, she would definitely lose herself again. Closing her open book, she moved from her chair to sit next to Harry. He blinked rapidly, just realizing that he was no loner alone. "Do you wanna talk about it?" Hermione had been asked this question by Harry many times, only nowadays, she was the one asking. Normally he would shake off her question, tonight he close to answer.

"Do you remember when Ron directed that big chess game while we were trying to get to the Sorcerer's Stone? I wonder if it's still there..." and so began their night. They both took turns telling tales that they remembered about Ron, different memories. "...and when you set those yellow birds on him, sixth year, because he was being a prat about the Quidditch match."

"He was only being that way because you lead him to believe that he was on luck potion." Hermione sniffled, smiling. She remembered, Harry'd even asked her if she was angry about Lavender Brown, shortly after the scenario. She'd laughed and told him no, she couldn't care less who Ron was with. That was the truth. Despite the common thought, she couldn't care less who Ron was with. "And when he tried to convince me in third year that Madam Pomphrey was going to chop off his leg from the bite." Hermione needed to leave before she dissolved into tears. Tears trailed down her face against her will as she stood, hoping that Harry hadn't seen. He had and he stood too. Hermione didn't resist when he pulled her into a hug, letting her cry into his shoulder. "Being back here is so hard. I don't want to be alone anymore." she whispered to his chest.

_And when the strings inside me  
_

_Unravel to the ground  
_

_You are the hand that gathers me up  
_

_And when I'm laughing so hard  
_

_That I can hardly breathe  
_

_How do you know just  
_

_when enough's enough?_

"You don't have to be alone, Hermione. That's what I've been trying to tell you since... since July." Harry said gently in her ear. "Come on, now. Go get ready for bed, we can both sleep out here tonight." Hermione obediently followed Harry's instructions, gathering her pillows and blankets, and pulling on her pajamas. By the time she returned, Harry was still in the common area, fully dressed and talking to Ginny. A strange angry, swooping sensation fell over her upon seeing the redhead. Hermione stared at the floor, waiting for the feeling to pass. She wondered if Harry and Ginny had patched things up between themselves. Catching sight of the awkward glances, she guessed not. Feeling slightly pleased, she returned to her room to wait for Ginny to leave, which she did minutes later after a heated discussion. Hermione waited until the portrait banged closed to re-enter the common area. Harry smiled at her when she came out. He was still siting on the couch; he laughed half-heartedly when Hermione gave him a curious look. "Ginny's mad because I didn't jump at the chance to ask her out. I have a feeling that this is going to end up like Cho and I did: not hardly speaking." Hermione said nothing, but stared into the fire blankly. For the second time in the last ten minutes, she was pleased, uncertain on how or why.

_It's hard to see beautiful  
_

_Oh, it's hard to see beautiful  
_

_In your own eyes  
_

_But you make me beautiful  
_

_For the very first time  
_

_Does anybody know what it's like  
_

_To feel larger than life  
_

_To look deep in your soul  
_

_And know you're not alone  
_

_Does anybody know how it feels  
_

_To find something that's real  
_

_And make it your own  
_

_That's when you know  
that you found home  
_

_Home  
_

_You found home  
_

_Home_

Morning found Harry and Hermione laying on the couch. Hermione had fallen asleep with her head on Harry's chest while they had been talking last night. Harry had fallen asleep not long after. Glancing at the clock that hung on the wall, Harry grimaced. Classes would be starting in an hour and a half. He looked down at Hermione; she looked so peaceful when she was sleeping and he didn't really have the heart to wake her. Despite his good intentions, as soon as he moved, Hermione woke, seeming very dazed. "Morning, sunshine." Harry said dryly. Hermione growled at him. She grumbled something about the time. "It's seven, if that's what you just asked." Thirty minutes later they dropped into seats at the Gryffindor table. As soon as they had sat down, Ginny got up and left. McGonagall was moving up and down the table handing out schedules. She handed both Harry and Hermione sheets of paper. Hermione's was considerably longer a list than Harry's. Comparing lessons, they found that they had all of their classes and breaks together. Harry suspected that McGonagall had done this on purpose. The only thing about their classes was that they had Potions first. Snape's near death experience had not softened his attitude towards Harry and Hermione or the rest of the class, for that matter. It didn't help that Harry and Hermione had been there to witness his attack. He did however refrain from making unnecessary snarky comments for the whole of the class. To Hermione's pleasure, none of the seventh years or their year, eight years, had surpassed her knowledge since last time.

All through the day and through the following days and weeks, Hermione began to notice strange things about the students that were left after the battle. Several '8th years' had been killed in the battle and some of the seventh years that had been of age. For instance: she noticed that Malfoy was alone more and that he seemed to hang around the Gryffindor students and table more often; Ginny appeared to have become more reclusive and drawn back from all of her friends, possibly from losing two brothers; Luna hardly spoke at all; Hermione was even noticing that she was more clingy to Harry than usual. More often than not, they never left each other's side, possibly afraid that if one of them left, the other might disappear forever. McGonagall approached them after they had sat down for lunch at the Gryffindor table. "Potter!" she came to a halt behind Harry and Hermione. "There are twenty hopefuls for the House team." she handed Harry a piece of paper with a list of names. Harry had forgotten that they needed a new Keeper and a new Chaser; possibly two if Ginny didn't play. As was usual these days, Hermione ended up at try outs three weeks later. She looked around at the remaining team: Harry, Demelza, Peakes, and Coote. Ginny refused to return to the team, leaving Harry with a Seeker, one Chaser, and two Beaters. Two and a half hours later, Harry had two new Chasers and a new Keeper: a second year, Selena Cole, that was the new Keeper; she had to be in some relation to Oliver Wood, she was that good; the two new Chasers were Bella Swan, a third year, and Lily Cullen, also a third year. The first practice was set for the following Saturday.

--

"Come on Hermione!" Harry pulled at Hermione, trying to get her to come to the third floor with him. Of course she didn't know they were going to the third floor, or she would have been resisting much more. Hermione gave Selena a pitiful look. She had taken Selena under her wing and helped her study almost every night.

"Oh go on, Hermione, you need to have some fun every once in a while." Selena's Irish accent was heavy with excitement. Glaring at the younger girl, Hermione got off the couch in the Gryffindor common room. It had been so long since either Harry or Hermione had been in there. When they finally reached the third floor, Hermione was very suspicious as to what they were doing. Harry muttered '_Alohamora'_ at the lock once they were on the third floor. In the room stood a dusty old harp that had been left there since their first year, all those years ago. Fluffy was long gone, but the splinters of the trap door still lay strewn on the floor. Hermione went through the hole first followed by Harry. Landing in the pit of Devil's Snare, Hermione waved her wand producing fire and the plant shrunk away. The keys were still flapping feebly around the room, the door still unlocked. The troll was also long gone. McGonagall's chess board let them pass without a game. At seeing the board, Hermione teared up and looked away from Harry. They lingered quite some time on the chess board. Snape's potion test had all but vanished, the paper holding the riddle was all that was left. Harry hesitated before the door leading to the room where he had encountered Voldemort and Quirrel. Hermione grabbed his hand and he pulled her into the dungeon like room. True enough there was a pile of rock that had once been Quirrel. The Mirror of Erised still stood in the middle.

"I don't think I ever told you about this mirror." Harry said, still pulling Hermione by the hand. "It shows you nothing more or less than the greatest desires of your heart. That's what Dumbledore told me. He also said that he saw himself holding a pair of socks." he positioned her in front of the mirror. What she saw frightened her to tears, it wasn't that it was scary, Hermione just simply didn't expect to see what she saw. She stared at it for a long time, almost not believing her eyes. Harry watched her carefully. Once she turned away from the mirror, he pulled her into his arms, waiting for her to calm. "We should go. Selena will be waiting for you to get back." Hermione nodded and they left the dungeon. They walked back through the way they had come more slowly than they had when entering, preserving the memories and the people that had been down here.

--

Harry knocked on Hermione's bedroom door and pushed it open when she didn't answer. The window still had the heavy curtains drawn over it, providing the illusion that it was still the middle of the night. "Hermione?" she stirred but didn't answer. "Hermione" Harry gave an exaggerated sigh and walked loudly to the foot of her bed. With hardly a running start, Harry dived head-first onto Hermione's bed making her bounce off the bed a little. A smile played at her lips telling him that she was awake, but she didn't open her eyes. Harry's head was right next to hers and he was whispering in her ear. "You're going to miss classes Hermione. You know you want to get up." he could tell she was trying not to laugh at him. Hermione shivered as his breath glided across her face. She knew that he was close enough that if either of them moved, they would land themselves in a very awkward position. Hermione moved anyways. Now she opened her eyes, having to keep them slightly crossed to focus on Harry's face. Her fingers played with his loosely tied tie, pulling him down the whole three millimeters until their lips met. It wasn't weird, as either of them had suspected it would be, nor was it awkward. Eventually, they knew they had to come up for air, but didn't until the last possible second. "Come on, love, you have to get up." he kissed her once more before pushing himself off her bed and out the door.

_You are the world within the  
_

_world that I exist  
_

_You are the touch that  
_

_just won't fade  
_

_You are the end and  
_

_beginning of each and  
_

_every day  
_

_You are the reason I stay sane_

_It's hard to see beautiful  
_

_Oh, it's hard to see beautiful  
_

_In your own eyes_

_But you make me beautiful  
_

_For the very first time_

_Does anybody know what it's like  
_

_To feel larger than life  
_

_To look deep in your soul  
_

_And know you're not alone  
_

_Does anybody know how it feels  
_

_To find something that's real  
_

_And make it your own  
_

_That's when you know  
_

_that you found home  
_

_Home  
_

_You found home  
_

_Home_

Word that Hermione Granger was dating Harry Potter spread fast, even faster than it had when he started dating Ginny the year before last. Every time Selena saw them together, she would giggle as if she had orchestrated the entire thing.

A week later, both Harry and Hermione were sitting in their common room 'studying' when they received an unlikely guest: Teddy Lupin. He was about to turn a year old in February. Teddy toddled about, hair changing color with every interesting thing he found. Hermione's heart went out to the little boy: he would have no memory of his mother, Tonks. His visits to Hogwarts became more and more frequent as his grandmother, Andromeda, became sicker and sicker. The doctors said it was leukemia, and at this late of a stage it couldn't be reversed. Remus followed his son into the Head's common room. He looked around.

"It hasn't changed much since James and Lily were Heads." Harry had heard many stories on how his father and mother had been Heads together, it was basically the reason on how they had gotten together. The story was not much different than the one he and Hermione were going through at the moment, minus all of the oaths from Lily to hate James for all of eternity, of course. "Teddy wanted to see the both of you." Hermione scooped up the little boy and settled on the couch. The three of them spent the rest of the evening talking and watching Teddy explore the common area.

--

**A/N- hey guys I haven't really written a story like this at all, so all reviews are welcome!! The song is 'Home' by Katharine McPhee.**


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